Ch.14b. A Letter From a Friend (Jerry & William)

[Bullfrog]

"Come on, you damn animal, come closer so I can blow your god-damn head off!"
Jerry raises his gun and points it down the tunnel, gripping the handle so hard his knuckles turn white. This place was evil and wrong, Jerry had come to realize, and the only remedy for this monstrosity would be the utter destruction of everything in these caves, archeological discoveries be damned.

[Philulhu]

From his position in the tunnel, with his headlamp shining back into the cavern from which they had come, Jerry briefly saw two flashes of pallid white flesh as they raced past the end of the tunnel.

Hope that makes sense.Jerry is standing in the tunnel with his back to the room with the monstrous pipe-thing on the wall, looking into the cavern through which they had passed earlier.

[Bullfrog]

That's what I was imagining, roughly.

Jerry gives chase to the shape in the darkness, sprinting down the tunnel to get a clear shot on the pallid animal!

[Mr. Handy]

William hurries after him.

[Philulhu]

DEX#1 1d100

DEX#2 1d100

Listen 1d100

The two creatures scampered through the cavern, keeping to the sides, disappearing into the darkness at the far end.

[Mr. Handy]

"What is it?" whispers William. "What did you see?"

[Bullfrog]

"A pair of animals, real pale-looking. Quick little bastards, too!" Jerry continues down the tunnel, keeping an eye out for the unknown creatures. He wasn't sure what could even be living down here so far from the surface, but as that awful face-covered machine demonstrated earlier, these were no ordinary caves.

Would it be possible for Jerry to make a blind shot down the cave?

[Philulhu]

Yes, perfectly possibly.

[Bullfrog]

Handgun 50%: 1d100

Jerry may not be able to see what he's shooting at, but he's certain he didn't hit it.

[Mr. Handy]

William holds his shotgun ready and shines his light in the direction indicated as he heads down the tunnel, but he holds his fire until he can actually see what he's trying to shoot.

[Philulhu]

1d100

With a flash of sparks, Jerry’s shot ricochets off a wall some distance from his intended targets, who scream and disappear down the tunnel at the end of the cavern.

[Mr. Handy]

"Maybe we shouldn't go running off after them without examining our surroundings," says William. "They could be leading us into an ambush."

[Bullfrog]

"That's crazy, but you know what? You might be right. I'm no expert on animals, but I can't think of any normal animal that would be living down here." Jerry agrees, exercising some rare restraint.
"I'll watch the front, and you can watch the back. I can't imagine they taught you how to shoot in lawyer school, but you don't have to do much aiming in a tunnel like this."

[Philulhu]

Are you standing still or moving on?

[Mr. Handy]

"I learned independently," says William. "I'm better with a pistol, but somehow I think a pistol won't cut it, and like you said, it's hard to miss in these circumstances."

Moving on, I think.

[Philulhu]

Moving further down the cavern, Jerry and William could see an opening to their left. Drawing closer they were assailed by a heavy, musty odour that made them recoil in disgust.

As they looked in the direction that the creatures had run, they could see a wide dark pit in the floor of the cavern, although it seemed as if a narrow ledge on each side would allow them to pass further.

[Mr. Handy]

"Good thing we slowed down," whispers William. "If we'd been running, we'd have fallen right into that. Which may be what they had in mind."

[Philulhu]

The hole looked to be about 20 feet deep but the ledges either side were about three feet wide so the space was passable.

[Bullfrog]

"Damn. It's no wonder that Lawrence kept you around." Jerry looks down into the pit, sobered by the realization of just how close he had come to running right into it. He steps back from the pit, shining the light from his headlamp into the foul-smelling room; he didn't imagine anything good could have been in there, but there was no telling where Winscott could have gone.
"Clever little bastards, too clever to just be animals. Did you get a good look at them?"

[Philulhu]

Can I have a Listen check, please.